


we can go and play pretend

by Violet_DeLights



Series: Still Not Bitten AU [3]
Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst and Romance, Dark Elves, Dubious Consent, Dubious Morality, Elemental Magic, Elf/Human Relationship(s), Elves, F/M, Horror, Mild Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Stalking, elf!Louis, human!Clementine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-25 00:49:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21347557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violet_DeLights/pseuds/Violet_DeLights
Summary: Just as she was watching the boy, it looked like he was studying her back, shaking back stray tendrils of black curls that escaped the low ponytail he wore to narrow brown eyes at her, alight with interest."Are you lost, little flower?"
Relationships: Clementine/Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: Still Not Bitten AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527374
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	we can go and play pretend

_I live a picture in my head_   
_Colors soaring as I float above my body in my bed yea_   
_And I wonder if I'm dead, saw the white light flicker so I wake up in a sweat_   
_Code red, sirens going off 'bout something that I dreamt_

It was only when the sun started setting, lowering beyond where she could see between the trunks of the trees around her, that Clementine started to worry.

She didn't normally slip between the loose planks of the fence at the corner of her backyard, liked to climb up to her tree house and come up with a new story for herself to play out instead. But when she stepped off the bus that afternoon it was to an empty house, with the blinking red of a waiting message on the answering machine.

She had listened to her mother’s harried voice explaining that she had to pull a double shift at the hospital that night and, with her father still out of town on business, that her babysitter, Sarah, should be there in an hour.

But Clementine could only think of the _tick_ of the clock in the silence, the faces of Mitch and Marlon who jeered at her when the teacher wasn’t looking, of Ben, who hadn’t stood up for her at recess today when Mitch pushed her from the top bar of the jungle gym and she ended up with skinned knees that throbbed even now.

Before she knew it, she had pushed her way between the slats of the fence and started walking.

She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, if anything, but it was better than what she’d left behind.

Maybe she could even live out here in this little forest, eating berries and crawling into the shelter of a hollowed out tree at night. Although, she’d been walking for a while and still hadn’t actually seen any berries. Still, she gathered up tufts of dandelions and some smaller yellow flowers that her Dad had once told her were weeds but looked like baby sunflowers to her.

It was in the middle of plucking another, still worried about the dwindling light but unwilling to go home, that she heard a wisp of a giggle behind her.

But, when she spun around in alarm, the small bundle in her hands tumbling from her nerveless fingers, she saw no one. A sudden chill passed over her and Clementine rubbed at her exposed arms. Her summer dress, black with polka dots, was now uncomfortably thin to her as the cold abruptly worsened and then, just as suddenly, dispersed.

At that same moment, Clementine felt the uncomfortable prickle of eyes watching her and, holding her breath, still clutching her arms, she slowly looked back and up.

There was a boy there, a teenager, sitting languidly up in the branches of the tree next to her, reclined casually against the trunk of the tree.

The brown overcoat he wore spilled over either side of him like a cape. He was wearing an oddly puffy white shirt that looked like the kind Clementine saw in movies where pirates clashed swords and chased treasure. His brown trousers looked just as old and the boots scuffing against the bark of the tree limb had laces that traveled up and underneath the hem of his pants, so that she couldn’t see where they ended.

Just as she was watching the boy, it looked like he was studying her back, shaking back stray tendrils of black curls that escaped the low ponytail he wore to narrow his brown eyes at her, alight with interest.

“Are you lost, little flower?”

Clementine startled badly at the sound of his voice, taking an instinctive step back, body tensing to run.

The thing was, Clementine did think she was lost. She knew that there wasn’t much land between her backyard and the highway, but in the time she had been walking, which felt like hours, she had yet to hit that border. Trying to look through the trees she’d passed, they seemed denser than they were before, closing around her as if herding her somewhere.

Still, she made no move to reply. While the boy’s words had been friendly, the way he was gazing at her, eyes sharp, and the cold tone of his words, sealed any words she might have used behind the sudden lump in her throat.

Mute, she shook her head and quickly turned around to walk back the way she’d come, ignoring the startled hum that issued from the boy.

“Might not want to go that way!” he called out cheerfully and, before she could help herself, she tossed a fast glance over her shoulder only to stumble to a stop when she found his branch empty.

“After all, don’t they say you should stay in one place when you’re lost?” he continued, voice so much louder, and Clementine gave a little shriek because _he was right in front of her._

She wanted to shout at him for scaring her, maybe kick him and run off until he was a speck in the distance, but she was frozen with fear, taking in his eyes from up close as he crouched before her, and she saw strange green swirls in their depths as he smirked at her, extending one hand out to her.

“Won’t you come with me, little flower?” he crooned expectantly.

But Clementine had been given the talk by her parents about not going off with strangers and, even if she hadn’t, she was smart, a shade too clever for most of her classmates which was the cause of their bitterness towards her and the skinned knees still shooting sparks of pain up her legs. She knew that something was wrong, something was _off _about this boy.

Silently, she shook her head, trying to blink tears back as she registered a rush of terror at this boy’s otherworldliness. His whirling eyes held her arrested and something hardened in them before he was reaching out to her, icy fingers brushing against her cheek.

“You won’t come away?” he asked softly.

She shook her head once more, tears slipping down to meet that hand. He withdrew, examining the wetness on his fingers before bringing them to his lips, eyes sliding closed as his tongue slipped out to lap at them, revealing strangely pointed teeth.

“Oh,” he breathed, eyes snapping open to gaze at her in sudden wonder. “Aren’t you _special, _flower.”

Clementine had been trying to move, to twitch any of her limbs into motion, but when his stare caught hers once more, she was caught again by those streaks of verdant in his eyes. Still, the panic inside her was building as he gave her a slow, sweet smile.

“I haven’t seen something like you in so long, little one. Come away with me and I can give you a new home, dearest,” he nearly begged her, and Clementine boggled at his sudden shift in demeanor, his shoulders hunched forward to make himself less threatening, kind smile in place as he blinked beguiling eyes at her.

_That was it. His **eyes**._

Frantically, she screwed her eyes shut and took a shuddering breath to steel herself. She heard his sharp inhale and then, eyes firmly closed, she took a large step to the side and passed him on shaky legs, shivering as her bare arm brushed against his coat and the cold that clung to him briefly snaked its way up her arm.

She walked on, one trembling arm reaching out to make sure she didn’t crash into any trees, nearly tripping on some thicker twigs strewn across the ground as she continued.

A chuckle sounded behind her and she twitched in expectation but, when nothing happened except his laughter growing in volume, bell like and ringing around her, she kept going.

And going.

And going.

She didn’t know how long she’d been walking, fighting against the urge to open her eyes, listening to the slight crunch of grass underfoot following her.

Eventually she heard the distant sounds of Sarah calling for her and her heart sped up with excitement and relief.

Miraculously, she hadn’t bumped into a single tree in her trek but, with an end in sight, she threw caution to the wind and ran, eyes flying open, and as the boards of her fence came into view, she almost sobbed.

Just as her fingers skimmed the rough surface, a pair of arms wound around her middle, halting her in her tracks as a pointed chin came to rest on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, flower. I know why you came to the woods, why they all do. I’ll see you soon.” With that he pressed a tender kiss to the top of her head and then Clementine staggered forward, body flush against the boards as the weight behind her vanished.

Panting, she pushed the slats aside and squeezed through, running to Sarah with tears still blurring her vision.

Face flushed with exertion, Sarah fussed over her, checking her forehead with the back of her hand before shuffling her inside and handing her two Tylenol. She then bundled her off for a quick bath and tucked her underneath her flowered comforter, leaving the door ajar so that a sliver of yellowed light from the hallway spilled into Clementine’s room.

Drowsy and dozing, her body snapped alert at the sound of a tinkling laugh by her window. She purposefully didn’t think about how her window was on the second story and the laugh sounded much too close or how there were no branches near her window to make the slight scraping noise against the glass she could hear.

Shaking, Clementine pulled the blankets up over her head and tumbled into restless dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> In this universe, elves are a dark species that often kidnap children.  
Nothing will happen between Louis and Clementine until she is nearly an adult.


End file.
